Edge and potential

I have had the edge now for about a month, enough time to know it and here is my thoughts:

First, kudos for thinking outside the box, I think the idea is a genius one...who ever came up with this, the person with the spark; good job !!!

Second, even though reviews show it as bulky, and it is a little bit, the convenience and versatility is worth the little bit of weight. I was thinking of a I pad at first, but when reading that it didn't even have a SD slot and it was all locked to apple, i wanted something different. I found the edge and i am glad that i bought it....so far

My concerns:

The price tag was steep, it was a gamble and here is why:

Your a young company going into a market full of big boys, your also competing in two markets, I pad type markets and E ink markets. This both gives the edge a advantage and a disadvantage. My concern is that you will not be able to keep up with both sides. While the e-reader is easy for books and such, Sony compatible, i have had plenty of options for books; its the LCD side that is a concern.

First, it doesn't play many movies on the internet, Flash is not fully supported and it quirks out alot. That leaves just the web, a desktop or notebook is far more efficient at it. while it is nice to be able to browse the web, i rarely do so; some minor tweaks i think can fix this; for example, opening up the bar to scroll up and down so i don't need to find a clear space on the web page... i am always clicking on links when scrolling; this is also a problem throughout the edge, library, apps, all that.

Second, I really feel like the software is half done, android 2.2 is out, but there seems to be no movement towards that; if the edge software stays in its form, the money would not be worth it; as it stands now, i mostly use the e-reader side; this must change to justify the money.

Third, application compatibility; I know we where promised a market but there is no news, there is also a promise of a developing kit, also no news. Stagnation makes me concerned, i am a American and i don't like to wait because i am spoiled hehe but i will wait, i just like to see that it is coming along, that progress is in the works. I dont see this; It is annoying jumping through hoops to get a android app to work, id like to see better compatibility.

I know that my expectations are more complex then me as a consumer can see, and i really do like the design and the idea, but, entourage needs to step up there game a little bit; the market they are competing in is going to explode soon with many company's coming out with ideas, the last thing i want to see is entourage fail and I need to buy another product to fill my geeky wants. So please, please get ahead of the game (moving to android 2.2 for one) as very soon, the edge will not be one of the few great ideas, there will be alot of options.

The potential of the edge is HUGE, so much so that it didn't take me much time to decide to buy it; and i am glad i did but the software is key to this, not just the hardware. So far though, thumbs up

I agree with the gist of this post: enTourage still has some work to do in order to fully unlock the potential of the eDGe. That being said, I think that some people have unrealistic expectations of what can be done. The nature of the device requires some compromises (e.g., battery longevity when strictly using the eInk), which limits its capabilities somewhat. Also, I don't think that the device will ever be able to serve as a primary computing device (at least this generation). IMHO, some posters (not necessarily the OP) seem to have unrealistic expectations of what the eDGe can or should be able to do.

Managing user expectations should be part of enTourage's strategic marketing plan. I used my eDGe in a meeting about a week ago. Two people came up to me afterward and asked to play with it. One later emailed me and asked more questions. The next day, she related that she and her husband had discussed it but decided not to buy it because it wasn't "ready" as a product only because you couldn't load Adobe Creative Suite onto it.

*Hunh?* I explained to her that the eDGe is not a work horse; it's more like a very agile walking horse. I don't think she got it though. She's still expecting this miracle device that's a tablet on which she can read ebooks (using eink), surf the web, video chat, design in InDesign, make people look really skinny in PhotoShop, type the Great American Novel, and plow the fields.

Sounds like she was expecting a $2000+ Motion Computing desktop-PC-in-a-tablet format device.

To be quite frank, you've more articulately explained the reasons I've not yet bit the bullet (so to speak). I want a more polished device, something more complete. I've purchased devices in the past that "have potential" and eventually stopped using them. Because of the price-point, I want a more finished device before I drop that kind of cash, you know?

Originally Posted by summatusmentis

To be quite frank, you've more articulately explained the reasons I've not yet bit the bullet (so to speak). I want a more polished device, something more complete.

Such devices are called desktops, or even some laptops if you're willing to shell out upward of $2,000 for all the bells and whistles on the top-of-the-line models. Though the eDGe could certainly use a bit more honing, it's not meant to be a desktop replacement.

Originally Posted by NiaTrue

Such devices are called desktops, or even some laptops if you're willing to shell out upward of $2,000 for all the bells and whistles on the top-of-the-line models. Though the eDGe could certainly use a bit more honing, it's not meant to be a desktop replacement.

I think you misunderstand what I mean. I was intending to reply to the OP. I know that the eDGe isn't intended as a desktop replacement, in the same way that a smartphone isn't intended to be a desktop. More of what I would like to see out of the eDGe is "perfection" for what it's trying to be, which I don't feel like is there yet. I would like to see more collaboration between the two screens, and a lot of the other stuff mentioned in the first post.

I'm just waiting, mostly. I'm kind of hoping there'll be a hardware revision so that the LCD side gets a capacitive screen, partially because of the text entry stuff. Ultimately, I really like the potential that the eDGe has, but I'm not feeling like I can justify investing the money on potential, you know?

The friend of my called EE "A set of cool parts". Implying that we have a lot of cool hardware located in the cool building,
but all this hardware is not able to work harmoniously with each other and absolutely no use of their opportunities.
Alluding to the fact that even buying these devices separately available on the order of magnitude greater functionality and opportunities for interaction between them.

p.s. EE tech support work well, but very slowly. So I'm afraid that when they release android 2.1 there will be android 2.3 (or 3.0, who knows). From my bug reports the only things that were corrected were "ghosted touch" and "sleep mode". Some updates are IMHO useless like flash lite support. I don't say that flash is useless, but it's included in android 2.2 distribution and the time spended to bring us "flash lite" could be used to compile android 2.2. The same thing for power management which were allready improved in last version of android and so on.

So I tell it in the past, and will repeat it again: hardware developer must publish SDK or (and) sources to allow community create software for an product. And the main thing that developer must write by himself is the drivers for hardware.

I think relatively tech savvy people see the specs on the eDGe and have realistic expectations of what it's capable of (or even surprised at what it can do). The issue is that a fairly large segment of the population sees what the latest 6oz smartphone running Android can do (e.g., Droid X) and then extrapolates that since the eDGe is ~3lbs, obviously the eDGe most be capable of more than that. Or, perhaps, the calculus is something along the lines of "since 3lbs is closer to the size of a laptop than a smartphone, it's capabilities should be closer to that of a laptop."

I disagree with the assertion that it's less than the sum of its parts. If one's use requires the integration of the eInk and LCD, then it's more than the sum of its parts. But if one is going to exclusively use the eInk and LCD and never really capitalize on the integration between the two, then I can understand why someone would feel that the separate devices would offer better functionality. IMHO, not everyone needs a device that integrates the two, so it's a niche device--albeit it serves that particular niche incredibly well at a reasonable price point (compared to a full fledged Tablet PC or something). Many people might be better served with a dedicated eReader and netbook/smartphone/tablet--although no combination of those devices is truly a substitute for a desktop or laptop as a primary computing device (except maybe for the high-end tablet notebooks).

I must say, I have more confidence in enTourage than in any other PC/tablet/laptop manufacturer. They actually RESPOND; they do what they say they will; they even do stuff they don't tell you about until after you've figured it out by accident--and they're friendly to boot!

Originally Posted by robot

p.s. EE tech support work well, but very slowly. So I'm afraid that when they release android 2.1 there will be android 2.3 (or 3.0, who knows). From my bug reports the only things that were corrected were "ghosted touch" and "sleep mode". Some updates are IMHO useless like flash lite support. I don't say that flash is useless, but it's included in android 2.2 distribution and the time spended to bring us "flash lite" could be used to compile android 2.2. The same thing for power management which were allready improved in last version of android and so on.

I think that we need to make a distinction between "tech support" (which addresses problems that customers are having with current capabilities) and "product development" (which addresses adding additional functionality and features to the product). While I have no idea how enTourage is internally organized, I strongly suspect that there is overlap in personnel between the teams or at least very close collaboration. But they are really two distinct functions.

FWIW, my experience with "tech support" (i.e., resolving an issue with a current function, which was a non-working camera) was that they are incredibly speedy (see my thread from a couple of weeks ago "RMAed " for a complete timeline). Other posters have also praised enTourage for a quick and painless resolution of issues.

Finally, in terms of integrating Android 2.2, if a tech company with as vast resources for product development as Motorola has to ship the Droid X in mid-July with 2.1 (with an upgrade to 2.2 promised in late summer), then I'm not sure that it's fair to criticize enTourage for taking a while before upgrading to it.

My two cents.

I think one (very) important aspect of eDGe is its cross functional duality. It is a device where a color LCD and an e-ink screen work together. I feel it is this interplay that is the strength of the device.

In my opinion, the question is not how many more new tricks you can get the eDGe to perform. The market is full of such devices; ie the ipad, and a number of smart phones. The main draw of ipad is that you can potentially run thousands of different apps, so you can constantly try new things and quench your thirst for novelty without having to actually buy a new device every few months. I am sure, eventually we can get eDGe to play as many monkey tricks as an ipad (it kinda already does to an extent). However, with eDGe, i would actually like to see a continued enhancement in the interplay between the LCD and the e-ink screens (a number of forum members have already requested a slew of features to that effect, elsewhere in this forum)

I think it is only a matter of time before Android related quirks are worked out (app store, full flash, skype etc etc etc), but that is not what will probably help eDGe stand apart from the crowd. On the other hand, if the eDGe team continually enhances the two screen cross talk and innovate in that particular area, they will create a niche for the device. Ultimately, its the niche that counts.

That said I must say ( a little grudgingly) that I am about 85% satisfied with the device and would never imagine getting rid of it even if further development were to stop tomorrow. The device (to me at least) is pretty darn useful as it is.

Originally Posted by walt526

If one's use requires the integration of the eInk and LCD, then it's more than the sum of its parts.

... I agree with you, but the truth is that THERE"S NO INTEGRATION BETWEEN EINK and LCD YET. Yes, you can open an internet page on LCD side and send it to E-ink. Yes you can make an note on PDF and send it to LCD.., but..., surprise..., you can do the same almost with any wi-fi supported e-ink reader and other wi-fi device (netbook, mobile, and so on). The true integrationg is when you can swap (or move) content from one side to another WITHOUT the need of convertation (that's what EE currently does when it save an webpage as e-pub at first, or when you make an note and export if to pdf).

I understand the frustration (I do find the integration to be a work in progress and often clunky), but it's an overstatement to say that there's "no integration" at present. While it's true that if you had a Kindle DX on your left and an iPad (or some other 10.1" tablet) on your right, you could do many of the same things (although I suspect that you would find it more cumbersome). Of course, those two devices individually are around the same cost of the eDGE, so you'd be well beyond the $500 price point if you were going to go the two gadget route.

At present, there is no device that does the full range of what the eDGe can (or soon will be able to) do for $500. There are many devices that do individual functions better, but nothing that does it all in a single, $500 package.

EDIT: Of course, with a combined Kindle DX and iPad, you still wouldn't have the annotation capabilities on the eInk that the eDGe has, which for me would be a deal breaker.

Nope. "interchangeability" -- mean that you can remove an part (LCD or E-ink) and steel be able to do whatever you want (and it's impossible with EE becouse of different native and input methods of e-ink and LCD).
We can also speak about "interaction" -- but it's also not a case 'cos it's supposed to work in both ways, thet you do an action and get an response (or action) in back. So in you examples interaction mean when you open an document with embeded media file on e-ink side, run it to view on LCD, but steel can control on media from e-ink. Or changing content of e-ink depending on what media you are viewing (or other actions which you're doing with media).

What we have now is called "exporting\importing" and "linking", but again there'n absolutly no integration.